


Let's not call this a date

by vendettadays



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26647603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vendettadays/pseuds/vendettadays
Summary: 'Date?!' hissed Gaara into his phone. He glanced at the woman beside him. A light blush dusted her cheeks and her hands twisted in her lap.There were so many methods Gaara could use to murder Naruto with and places he could hide his body. But setting him up on a blind date warranted the worst and he was going to kill Naruto.
Relationships: Gaara/Hyuuga Hinata
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Let's not call this a date

**Author's Note:**

> Another from the WIP folder. Something light to break up another WIP I've been trying to finish. Hope you enjoy and always, thanks for reading!

Gaara checked his watch and walked as fast as he allowed himself on company premises, briskly crossing the open plan design with long strides to his office. The client conference call had overrun by half an hour and Lee had been too damn polite to cut it short. He rushed into his office, grabbed his phone from his desk, slipped it into his pocket and stepped straight back out, pulling the door closed. 

‘Gaara, wait!’

He stopped abruptly and turned to Matsuri, one of the junior consultants on his team, who had a bundle of documents in her arms. She bobbed on her feet, anxious and who clearly had been waiting for him to finish his meeting. He reached out for the document before Matsuri had started talking. 

‘I’m really sorry to stop you on your way out, but I have the amended page five of the contract with _Oto Inc_ ,’ explained Matsuri, as Gaara scanned the page for the changes he had requested. ‘Risk has already given the green light on the changes, so it's just signing it once they come back on the work schedule.’ 

‘Good work,’ Gaara passed the sheet of paper back to Matsuri. ‘Let’s talk on Monday about the work schedule and I’ll sign it then. Go home, it’s a Friday.’ 

He nodded goodbye and pointedly ignored the rising blush on her face. That was one thing he did not need at work. A _ding_ sounded in his pocket, alerting him that he was still running late.

‘Crap,’ muttered Gaara, fishing out his phone from his trouser pocket to see three new texts from Naruto. 

_Where r u?!_

_U late! Get ur ass in gear now!!!!!_

_Gaara! im not lying, hurry upppp!!_

Gaara shoved the phone away and rushed to the lifts. He pushed the down button once, then twice when nothing seemed to happen. He willed his foot to not tap as he waited impatiently for the lift to arrive on the twentieth floor. Why had he thought it had been a good idea to rent the top five floors for his company? Temari had been right. They should have just rented the mid-levels for a cheaper price. At least that way, he didn't have to wait an extra five minutes just for the lifts. He released a long-suffering sigh as his phone continued to ding second after second. 

‘Excuse me, but I think that’s your phone?’ said Hayato, who worked in legal and had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Gaara hoped they hadn’t seen him push the lift button twice. 

‘Oh, is it?’ Gaara feigned surprised and took his phone out of his pocket again. The screen was bright with green notification bubbles. He turned the phone on silent and pocketed it again, ignoring the constant and irritating buzzing. ‘Thank you for letting me know.’ 

Gaara turned back to the shiny lift doors, which remained stubbornly closed. 

‘Ah, shoot, I forgot but building maintenance said the lifts will be out of order for half an hour,’ exclaimed Hayato, slapping his forehead with his hand. 

‘On a Friday?’ 

‘Yeah, I know, right?’

Gaara’s eyebrow twitched, his vibrating phone did nothing to alleviate the frustration and annoyance that threatened to surface. He coughed, smiled tightly at Hayato and swivelled sharply on his feet to the emergency stairs. Twenty flights of stairs later and Gaara was melting in his suit, his shirt stuck uncomfortably to his back and the heels of his feet rubbed sore from the shoes he hadn’t quite broken in. This was not the kind of work out he had needed. He flagged a taxi down with a wave of his hand in record time, the only quick part of this whole ordeal. 

‘The old market please.’ Gaara folded his long legs into the back of the taxi and closed the door. 

‘Sorry, there’s been a crash near Hashirama Square. I can get you as far as the end of the Financial District, but you’ll have to walk the rest.’ The driver looked around in his seat and shrugged apologetically. 

Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose, the ever constant presence of his phone reminding him that he was late. ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’

The taxi started and stopped, almost bumper to bumper as it crawled forward in peak hour traffic. By the time the taxi had dropped him off on the edge of the Financial District, forty-five minutes had passed since he had left the office, and Gaara’s exercise in patience was failing. He power-walked down the street, turning a corner and leaving the clean paved streets of the Financial District for the old part of Konoha that led to the marketplace. 

The marketplace bustled with people queuing in front of food stalls, crammed around tables eating dinner and chatting away. Gaara weaved through the crowd until he reached a ramen stall tucked in a corner of the marketplace. He brushed away the cloth in the doorway with his hand and frowned. Ichiraku’s was unusually quiet for a Friday evening. Even more unusual was the fact that Naruto was nowhere to be seen. The only other customer was a woman with long, navy hair and impeccable posture, sat by herself on a stool at the counter. 

Gaara pulled his phone out to see 53 missed calls and 132 texts. All from Naruto who was nowhere to be seen. Typical. 

‘Welcome! Please have a seat.’ Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku smiled from behind the counter and gestured at the empty seat next to the woman. ‘What can I get for you, sir?’

‘A pot of green tea please.’ Gaara sighed, feeling more tired than a Friday should warrant and he hadn’t even worked late today. He sat down, leaving an empty stool between him and the woman, and loosened his tie a fraction. ‘I’m waiting for a friend.’

Teuchi placed a pot of tea and a cup in front of him. Steam curled into the air as he poured himself a cup. He let it rest, too hot to drink straight away, despite how parched his throat was. His phone vibrated against the wooden countertop and he snatched up the phone at the sight of Naruto’s name. He was going to scream at Naruto for all the trouble he had caused so far.

‘Gaara, are you at Ichiraku’s?’

‘Where-are-you?’ seethed Gaara, punctuating each word with a pause. Nervous laughter filled his ear and he closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. ‘You said you were already here. Why are you _not_ here?’ 

He resisted sighing as more nervous laughter filtered through. It was the sound of his evening getting worse. ‘So you remember when I said that you needed to loosen up?’ 

Gaara breathed deeply, trying to calm down when all he wanted was to reach down his phone and strangle his 'supposed' best friend. A title that was slowly being revoked with every passing second. 

'Come on, Gaara! You work too hard! You need to meet someone new, make a friend and talk about something that's not _work_!' 

‘Naruto!’ He was tired, hot from rushing, and the last thing he wanted to deal with on a Friday evening was Naruto’s silly schemes. 

‘Hear me out, okay?’

‘No, I do not want to hear you out –’

‘Hinata’s really, really nice and she’s been waiting for an hour. What kind of person makes their date wait an hour only to leave?’

'Date?!' hissed Gaara into his phone. He glanced at the woman beside him. A light blush dusted her cheeks and her hands twisted in her lap. There was no doubt that she must have overheard his conversation, Naruto's voice was obnoxiously loud even by phone. ‘You know I'm notorious for being late, wait, that's not even the point! This is your fault, not mine!'

‘Come on, Gaara!' Naruto whined before rushing to add, 'Hinata's really nice! She’s pretty quiet and shy, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a great date. Actually, I think she might be a bit anaemic, ‘cause she always gets a bit faint when I’m around her. But it’s the company that matters right? I guarantee you will have fun! Enjoy yourself and don’t do anything that I won’t do!’ 

Naruto hung up and Gaara stared at his phone, mouth agape in disbelief. He called Naruto back but was met with his voicemail. That bastard turned his phone off!

He glanced at the woman again who returned his gaze with a small smile. She seemed fine and didn't look like she was about to faint. He hoped she wouldn't faint when he told her that they should cancel their date. Spending his Friday night with a stranger in the waiting room of a hospital was even further down his list of Friday night activities, but even that was more bearable than blind dates. There was a special spot reserved for that particular activity. 

Gaara placed his phone on the wooden counter and turned to the woman. She wore a white shirt tucked into a knee-length skirt. A black blazer was draped over the stool to her right. Gaara's heart skipped a beat at the woman's expression, eyes soft and open, her smile a little shy. She had probably just finished work like he had, and hadn't expected to be a part of Naruto's meddling. He steeled himself to make conversation. 

‘I apologise for my lateness…’ Gaara groaned in his head and cursed Naruto for placing him in this situation, but the woman smiled at him kindly, apparently no offence taken. 

‘Hinata,' she finished for him helpfully. 'It's nice to meet you…' 

‘Gaara.’

They lapsed into silence Gaara poured himself more tea into his almost overflowing cup for something to do. Hinata fidgeted with her fingers beside him and he stared at the rising steam of his green tea, still too hot to drink. He checked his watch. Ten past eight. Only five minutes had passed since he had sat down. Hinata cleared her throat and took a sip of her water. He turned to her only to look away. 

He grasped for something to say and to fill the silence, as awkwardness settled between them. Nothing came to mind and he was the master of uncomfortable silences. It was his favourite tool to utilise at unruly and unreasonable clients. He would allow the silence to continue until even their most thick-skinned client couldn't hold his gaze and sweated under the pressure. If the feeling was anything like this, awkward and horribly oppressing, he understood why Ōnoki Ryōtenbin, the grumpy, elderly founder of an international quarry company based in Iwa, had finally caved and agreed to push back the project deadline. 

If this was what it was like, he felt pity for those on the receiving end of his stony silence. He would rather be subject to a meeting with the Board of Directors than having to start a conversation on a date.

Gaara coughed lightly, unable to handle the quiet anymore. ‘I was under the impression that I was going to meet Naruto for dinner.’ 

‘It seems that we have both been duped.’ Hinata latched onto the conversation quickly, face flushing as she spoke. ‘Naruto said the same to me too, but he texted me to say that he couldn’t make it and that you were on your way for this “date” as Naruto called it.’ 

‘Naruto means well, but..’ Gaara shook his head, ‘sometimes his deplorable etiquette and manners gets ahead of him. I’m sorry if you were expecting him instead of me.’

There were so many methods Gaara could use to murder Naruto with and places he could hide his body. It was one thing for Naruto to do this to him, but it was unacceptable to involve someone else. Given Hinata’s red cheeks when she spoke Naruto’s name, she had probably looked forward to spending time with Naruto. 

‘No, no, it’s fine,’ Hinata protested, hands in front of her in a placating gesture. Naruto was right. She was a really nice person. 

‘I don’t want to waste your time. I will not hold it against you if you wish to leave.’ 

‘Actually, I haven’t had dinner yet,’ started Hinata, fingers fiddling with her glass of water, but her voice was steady despite her sudden rosier cheeks. ‘Since I am here anyway, would you care to join me for ramen?’ She added, ‘I hear the ramen here is the best in Konoha.’ 

‘So this date is going ahead then?’ 

‘Since we were set up, unwillingly as well, shall we agree to release each other from the obligations of a date?’ reasoned Hinata, not shying from Gaara’s incredulous expression. ‘It would be nice not to eat alone.’ 

She had a point. He often ate alone and he couldn't remember the last time he had dinner, even lunch with an alive and breathing person that wasn’t characters from the latest Netflix show he was catching up on. 

‘Yes, that does sound very reasonable.' Gaara's stomach growled loudly. Hinata’s tentative smile widened and he couldn’t stop the smile that appeared in response. 'I would be happy to accompany you for dinner and we can charge it to Naruto’s tab, he comes here often enough.’ 

Hinata turned to Teuchi who had been watching their interaction with poorly concealed amusement, and ordered the signature shoyu ramen.

'So how do you know Naruto?' asked Gaara after he had ordered the same ramen, adding a side of gyōza when he had asked Hinata if she liked to share. 

'I actually know him through a friend I went to medical school with.' 

Gaara hazarded a guess that that someone was Sakura and said the same. 

'Yes, it's Sakura,' said Hinata, voice light and gentle that it made Gaara wonder how Naruto's voice didn't overpower her own. 

They talked as Teuchi placed two large bowls of ramen in front of them, exchanging bits and pieces of themselves in between bites of noodles and gyōza, and Gaara found that conversation flowed easily once they started. There was none of the stilted words and stifled air that came with trying to carry conversation with strangers. Hinata made talking as easy as breathing and he found himself enjoying every moment of their not date. 

He learned that Hinata was a pediatric surgeon who spent less time in surgery these days and most of her days acting as a medical consultant for her family’s business now. It explained the corporate business wear she wore, but if she had her way, she would have gone back into practice full time. But until they found a replacement for her, it wasn’t likely that she would be back in the operating theatre soon. In turn Gaara shared with Hinata how he had ended up opening a branch of Sabuku Industries on a dare. Well, it hadn’t actually been a dare, but in hindsight, it had definitely felt like rising to Naruto’s level of pettiness. 

But the more they talked, the more Gaara realised just how small Konoha was for being the capital city of the Land of Fire. It turned out that Hinata’s cousin was Neji Hyūga who was married to Tenten, who used to be roommates with Temari in university _and_ coincidently, both Neji and Tenten had gone to high school with Rock Lee, one of the few people other than Naruto, who Gaara called a friend. 

Gaara had been at Neji and Tenten's wedding earlier that year, invited because Temari was a bridesmaid. Incidentally, so was Hinata, but neither of them could remember seeing the other. Then Gaara remembered why. He had been fretting with Lee as they had turned the venue upside down and inside out for the ring that Lee had forgotten back at the hotel. That by the time it came to the ceremony, Gaara had all but collapsed at the back. 

('Neji had almost killed Lee,' added Hinata between bouts of laughter, holding her sides as Gaara recounted one of the worst experiences of his life. 'Tenten knew, but hadn't bothered telling Lee.') 

Then there was Sakura's birthday party. The one that had ended in a broken ceiling in Sakura's apartment. The same one where Hinata had to play triage doctor to assess the head injuries. Luckily, she had come out unscathed, if only a little dusty. 

('I left early that time, but I heard that it was a memorable birthday,' commented Gaara, smirking at the memory of Naruto sporting a bump the size of an egg on his forehead. A souvenir from a wayward wooden beam.) 

With each story he and Hinata exchanged, it became clear that their lives had intersected so many more times then they'd realised, always missing by a few degrees of separation. One arriving early, the other leaving early. They could have passed by each other without even knowing. 

'How have we not met before now?' asked Hinata, her face a picture of amused confusion. 

‘I know, but for some reason, it means we’re all connected to Naruto.’ Gaara rolled his eyes, drawing a laugh from Hinata that made Gaara laugh in reply, delighting in being able to cause such a lighthearted reaction from her. 

‘Naruto always had a way with people.’ Hinata she shook her head in seeming fondness at their mutual and meddlesome friend. 

‘If you mean fighting as a means to connect, then yes, I agree with you,’ joked Gara as he regaled Hinata about how Naruto had heabutted him the first time they met. 

Gaara drained the last of the beer in his glass as Hinata laughed again. The TGIF feeling had settled onto the both of them, leaving Gaara comfortable enough to add a beer to his order. Hinata hadn’t hesitated to upgrade it to a large to share with him and Gaara had been able to strike ‘afterwork drinks’ off the list of things Temari had told him to do whilst he was in Konoha. Even if the afterwork drinks were with a stranger who was really not a stranger anymore in his head, who had also been set up as his date, who ended up not being a date, but who he ended up having dinner with and enjoying every second of it. Gaara shook his head as his thoughts ran away from him. He needed to slow down on the beers. 

'This has been fun,' said Hinata, playing with her glass, swirling the golden liquid around and around before she finished it. Her throat bobbed as she drank and Gaara had to look away, realising belatedly that he was staring. Maybe that fourth beer they shared hadn't been such a good idea after all. 

'It really has,' admitted Gaara, after finding his voice. 'Thank you for inviting me to join you for dinner.' 

It was the truth and despite how their night had started and his initial reluctance, he had enjoyed his time. He couldn't remember the last time he had not worked on a Friday, had actually gone _out_ and not straight home to his rental apartment. Damn Naruto for being right. He hadn't known how starved for conversation he was, especially for topics that didn't consist of work deadlines and project scopes.

'That's the first time someone's ever thanked me for dinner on a "date", but then again, I guess this isn't a date after all.' Hinata smiled, cheeks flushed a light pink from the alcohol. He didn't understand how Naruto had thought she was quiet or shy. It might have been true at the beginning, but there hadn't been a moment in the two hours they had spent talking that Gaara had once thought Hinata was quiet. 

Gaara chuckled and got up from his stool. He held out his hand to help Hinata as she hopped off. The casual touch of her hand in his felt so natural, almost as if his hand had been made to fit hers. Now he definitely knew he had drank a little too much, thought Gaara. 

They split the bill and left together, hands brushing and arms bumping against each other as they walked side by side from the busy marketplace. Buoyed by the few hours of good company and conversation with Hinata, Gaara asked if Hinata wanted to take a stroll through Seju Park _,_ wishing to stay in her company for a little bit longer. 

Hinata's smile brightened at the suggestion. 'It will be nice to walk off dinner.' 

The sticky summer heat had faded as Konoha slid into September, carrying the beginnings of autumn along the gentle evening breeze. Gaara breathed in the smell of the grass and trees as they walked through the gates of the park. They deliberately stayed off the path, venturing into the large expanse of grass in the middle of the park that stretched from one end to the other. There were days he missed Suna and its dry heat and chilling nights, but he loved seeing the changes that the seasons brought to Konoha. 

Hinata twirled around to face Gaara, hand behind her back as she walked backwards. 'Tell me a secret that no one knows.' 

Gaara blinked, surprised by the question and searched his mind for such a secret. He didn't think anyone had ever asked him before. 

'It's hard, isn't it?' The question was rhetorical, but that didn't make it any less true. Hinata stopped and waited for him to catch up, before falling into step with him. She tilted her head up as if to contemplate the night sky and include it in their conversation. 'We're made of so much information and yet, when we really examine ourselves, how much do we actually reveal?' 

For such a simple question, it was weighed with so much significance. He didn't have to answer, could have left it unanswered, a quirky question asked by a woman philosophising and maybe just a tiny bit tipsy. But so was he, the alcohol loosening his tongue enough that tipsy turned to truthful. 

'I'm scared that no one will love me,' admitted Gaara, giving voice to a fear that he had carried with him since childhood. He had never said it out loud. Not even Kankuro or Temari knew, though they may have suspected. 'My mother died giving birth to me and I always felt that my father blamed me for her death. He has never said it directly to my face, but it's just a feeling I've had since I was a child.' 

Hinata stopped walking and so did Gaara. She turned to him with such sadness clouding her pale eyes that his chest grew tight in sympathy. He had lived with the feeling for so long that he had become desensitised to it. He jumped at the sudden, warm touch against his palm. Hinata squeezed his hand in comfort and the tension in his shoulders drained with the breath he exhaled. 

After a moment, with their hands still holding onto each other's, Hinata added quietly, 'I fear that I'm a disappointment to my family, never quite good enough and always found wanting.'

An inscrutable expression fell upon Hinata's face, not sad, at least it wasn't the same look she had given him. Rather it was one of tired resignation, an acceptance of something that had become fact through sheer belief instead. 

Gaara looked at Hinata and didn't for a minute believe that she was ever a disappointment. The words got stuck in his throat, tongue unmoving as he tried to express his thoughts, so he settled for holding onto her Hinata, channelling his inarticulate thoughts into the tactile connection of their hands. 

'I'm sorry for-'

'I apologise-' '

They stopped, caught in the middle of their apologies and Gaara smiled carefully, taking a leap. ‘You don't seem like a disappointment, so you've got nothing to be sorry about. You've managed to salvage my Friday night, which would have been ruined by Naruto otherwise.' 

A delicate pink blush coloured Hinata's cheeks before her wide eyes softened from disbelief to acceptance, lips curling into a secret, shy smile and Gaara was mesmerised by every subtle shift of her expression. 

'There are people who love you too,' said Hinata. Her smile grew a little wider, a little more confident. 'I know Naruto had your best interest in heart when he tried setting us up. That only comes from love.' 

Gaara laughed out loud, the heaviness of the moment breaking into lightness and the weight that had settled upon them lifted like fog from the still surface of the sea. 

'It's a good thing we're not on a date,' he joked, nudging her shoulder with his own. 'I think our topic of conversation would have scared even the most daring of dates.' 

'Yes, talking about our secrets does seem like a ninth date kind of topic.' 

'Nine dates?!' Gaara looked at Hinata with mock horror. 'I can barely function on a first date, let alone nine.' 

'Ah, that's why you're able to function now,' teased Hinata, stunning him with a wink. She pulled him into a walk towards the east gates leading onto Hokage Avenue. 

He held onto Hinata as they walked, talking about anything that came to mind. Tea or coffee, summer or winter, Konoha Leaves or Suna Sands, paperback or hardback?

Hinata loved tea, preferred winter, was a secret Suna Sands supporter despite having been born and raised in Konoha, and brought paperbacks religiously then donated them to the hospital when she had finished. 

With every new piece of information, he became acutely aware of the warmth that their clasped hands radiated, and he tried not to focus on how _right_ it felt. Only a few hours and he was invested. Not a date indeed, thought Gaara despite how it seemed increasingly untrue. If this was what people did on 'not dates', he didn't want to know what people actually did on real dates. Whatever they did, he doubted it was like this. 

Whatever this night was between them, Gaara wasn't quite ready for it to end. 

At the cross section on the corner of the street, Hinata turned to Gaara and pointed right. 'I'm heading down that way.'

'I'll be going the other way,' replied Gaara, nodding at any other direction so he didn’t have to look away from Hinata. 

They stood gazing at each other with shy smiles, connected by their loosely joined hands and Gaara was loath to break the connection. 

'I know none of this was planned.’ Her voice quiet as she tucked her hair behind her ear. 'But I had a lot of fun getting to know you.' 

He smiled back, charmed by the unexpected nervous gesture. 'I did too, even if I think the Konoha Leaves are the better team, but I guess we can agree to disagree on that.' 

Hinata's eyes sparkled, bottom lip caught by her teeth as she hesitated. In one heart stopping moment, Hinata closed the gap between them in one step. Gaara watched with wide eyes, heart lodged in his throat, and stomach flip-flopping in nervous anticipation as Hinata leaned up on her tiptoes. Her pale eyes fixed on Gaara's for a sign that he did not want this. He leaned down as she tilted her head. Hinata brushed her lips against his cheek, so undeniably close to his lips that he gasped. It was the barest of touches, chaste and fleeting, and over all too quickly. But his skin burned from the kiss and his hand went up to touch the spot, transfixed at the sight of Hinata's lips and frozen in awe at the pretty flush that coloured her skin. 

'Thanks Gaara,' whispered Hinata, a shy smile as she let go of his hand and stepped away. 'I'm sure I'll see you soon.' 

Gaara watched Hinata walk away in shocked silence. Just as she turned the corner on Hiruzen Street, Hinata glanced over her shoulder and waved. He waved back, hand hanging in the air as he gazed at the space Hinata had disappeared from. How had his evening ended like this? His hand dropped back to his side and he looked around, dazed at finding himself on the north side of the city when he lived in the south. He shook his head and started walking back the way they had come.

It was only when he was halfway home when it struck him that he had never asked for Hinata’s number. He slapped his forehead and clenched his eyes at his hopelessness. Swallowing his pride, he took his phone out and pressed his recent contacts. 

‘Naruto?’ 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to talk to me on [tumblr](https://flyfromreality.tumblr.com/)


End file.
